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Gender equality in STEM, fact or fiction ? A qualitative exploration of the early career experiences of female chemical engineers

Axensalva, Renaud
(2021)

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Axensalva_80711900_2021.pdf
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Details

Supervisors
Jammaers, Eline
Faculty
Louvain School of Management
Degree label
Master [60] en sciences de gestion (horaire décalé)
Abstract
This essay investigates the issue of gender equality in STEM careers and more specifically of the early careers of women in the chemical industry. With the help of semi-directed interviews, qualitative results are gathered, analysed and put in context against the situation of women during their STEM studies and the global situation of women’s career path in the chemical industry in general. To this end, statistical data, literature and publicly available information published by several chemical companies are used as base material for the study. The findings indicate that women pursuing a technical career in the chemical industry suffer from the same biases and stereotypes as they did during the course of their studies and that their representation rarely exceeds thirty percent in this kind of jobs. An significative improvement in the representation of women in STEM is not yet in sight in the industry although there is a will to foster them in the medium term, at least from an employer’s policy point of view. A root cause is identified to be the asymmetry of roles when women have to manage their career in parallel with their motherhood. Another finding is that women seem to underestimate or to be unaware of the strength of stereotypes and have integrated them as a part of the social norm. Using the information gathered, some recommendations for Human Resources are laid out in order to counterbalance and improve the situation, from of an infrastructure and policies point of view. Some final thoughts on possible additional investigations and recommendations are suggested in order to widen the scope of this work and supplement it with a stronger transversal statistical basis.

Citations

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Axensalva, R. (2021). Gender equality in STEM, fact or fiction ? A qualitative exploration of the early career experiences of female chemical engineers. https://dial-mem.test.bib.ucl.ac.be/handle/2078.2/23599